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Collective farming was first developed in the USSR in 1917, where it became general after 1930. Stalin's collectivization drive 192933 wrecked a flourishing agricultural system and alienated the Soviet peasants from the land: 15 million people were left homeless, 1 million of whom were sent to labour camps and some 12 million deported to Siberia. In subsequent years, millions of those peasants forced into collectives died. Collective farming is practised in other countries; it was adopted from 1953 in China, and Israel has a large number of collective farms (see kibbutz).
The crescent is a symbol of Islam and the green also denotes Islam. The four stars and the four stripes of colour represent the four islands in the group (including Mayotte, which is a French dependency). Effective date: 2002.
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